


Fever Dreams

by WhereLifeIsStrong



Series: Reverse Heartbeat [2]
Category: Fire Emblem, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bad Ending, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 21:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9787319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhereLifeIsStrong/pseuds/WhereLifeIsStrong
Summary: All good things come to an end eventually.  You run from it, you stall it, but finally the end catches up.  {{PREQUEL TO GLASS WALL}}





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is a prequel to my Leonoka fanfic "Glass Wall", and it sheds some light upon the situation that Leo and Hinoka are in. I plan to do a prequel to THIS fic as well, focusing on Corrin and Azura's odd behavior.

Prince Takumi could easily be described as an angry person. Brash, judgemental, narrow-minded - the picture of grumpiness.

In truth, it was a defensive front. Father and Mother, both taken by Nohrians - both gone forever now. Did Nohr not have parents within its boundaries? Twice Takumi had been left behind with two grieving sisters and an older brother so stressed he'd refuse to sleep. Foreigners weren't to be trusted. Foreigners only brought pain.

As did Corrin. His "brother", so missed by everyone - so precious to Hoshido - had killed Queen Mikoto in cold blood. Gods knew what Azura was doing now, either. She'd fled to gods-knew-where the moment Corrin had chosen to turn his back on his family. He "didn't want to take sides", the coward! He was too afraid to face the consequences of his choices so he ran from them.

And now Takumi was at the end of the line. Tied up in the banquet hall in Izumo Palace. He didn't want to go down quietly, and he'd tried his best, but now there was just nothing he could do.

At the very least he would face his death with honor and defiance.

"Sakura!" A voice rang out from outside the hall. Takumi's head snapped to the direction of the sound. Sakura was here? His sister was here?

There was shouting, more shouting, and finally a lone scream. Takumi tried his best to sit up and at least get a vague idea of what was going on when in came... Corrin. Gods, if the bastard had laid a hand on Sakura—

Sakura stepped out from behind him shyly. "Um, the Nohrian Prince said they'd be in here..."

After releasing everyone, Corrin began to speak to the Archduke as Takumi looked on in confusion. He... he wanted Takumi to join him. Turn his back on Hoshido? Never, but here Sakura was...

Excuse after excuse popped into Takumi's brain. She was still young. She didn't know better. Corrin had manipulated her.

But when Archduke Izana died in Takumi's arms, he made a decision. If all the signs pointed to joining Corrin, if that was what the gods truly wanted, maybe his brother wasn't... a traitor after all.

\--

It was difficult, getting along with the Nohrians in the army. At first he'd get into fights. Then he started to ignore them completely. When Princess Elise came to his aid in battle, though, Takumi's thoughts immediately went to Sakura. Such a young girl healing others so diligently and with such a big smile on her face... okay, maybe not all Nohrians were bad. But then again, maybe it was just because Elise was young. Maybe she'd become as wretched as the rest one day.

But Leo was young, too - just a bit younger than Hinoka - and he was already scum. Unforgivable scum. Takumi just hoped he'd never see the day Elise lost her heart with his own eyes.

\--

For the fourth time today, she saw Prince Takumi out of the corner of her eye, pacing restlessly as she had tea with Felicia and Sakura. The Astral Plane was such a peaceful place. Why was he looking so bothered? Excusing herself, Elise set her tea down and skipped off into the direction of the gray-haired prince.

"Hey! Prince Takumi!" she called. He turned and tilted his head as she approached him and came to a halt. "Are you busy?"

He tried to fix the scowl on his face when she spoke. "Why, do you need something?"

Elise shook her head. "You just seem troubled."

"Me...?" He shook his head and gave her a smile. A forced smile, she could tell. "I'm fine, Princess. Don't bother yourself with me."

"What?" How could he say that? Of course she had to bother herself with him! Well, not bother, because he wasn't a bother, but... but she cared about him! "No, I can't NOT worry about you!" She grabbed his hand and looked up at him with the fiercest look a twelve-year-old could muster, as if to scold him for even thinking she'd pay him no mind.

He couldn't help the genuine smile tugging at his lips. How cute and innocent. He complied and began to tell her about the simple worries of life, like how he needed a new hairbrush and that Hinoka kept hiding Fujin Yumi to make him mad. She listened so intently and her empathy was sincere despite the triviality of the matters. He sent her off with a pat on the shoulder (four years of an age difference and she STILL almost met his eye - why was he so short?!) and let out a sigh.

It seemed that he'd made his first Nohrian friend.

\--

Big Brother promised that after the war, there would be peace. Elise could see the ambition in his eyes, the idea that he absolutely had to do this. Not backing down when faced with Azura, never stopping to second-guess what he believed in. That was what Elise had always loved so much about her older brother; his confidence in himself and— and stubbornness was supposed to be a bad thing, but the fact that Corrin never gave up was key to their nearing victory.

Of course, the songstress that opposed them was equally relentless. She didn't want to hurt them, she really didn't, but her duty was a pact of blood that she had no control over. Who she had to obey, she refused to share, but Elise would see the regret and sadness plainly on Princess Azura's face.

Still, slowly, Elise worked with the others to unite the warring countries and meet Corrin and Lilith at the Bottomless Canyon just before the sky's change. One of those "others" was Takumi.

It was board games again today, late at night in Elise's tent under the light of an oil lamp. They were sure to be quiet so as not to wake anyone up - but neither could help the bad jokes and muffled laughter. The drawing she'd crudely drawn of her family was tossed to the side, completely forgotten in the presence of Elise's friend.

"Takumi," she whispered after moving her piece a few spaces, "do you have a crush on anyone?"

They were long past formalities by now - to each other, they were just Takumi and Elise. No royal nonsense. Still, upon hearing the question, Takumi thought it might be just a little too personal to ask... right? Right? "E-Elise...?"

She giggled. "You're blushing. Big Sister always said that means he has a crush!" Elise leaned forward, maybe a little too close, and Takumi fidgeted.

"I... um... d-don't think about it much." He glanced away. "But, yeah, there's a girl I think is really cute, and nice, and caring... and... I wouldn't tr-trade her for the w—" Takumi stopped himself before he could say anything more, still avoiding eye contact. But Elise's eyes were so bright and she looked so eager to know.

"Ooh! I want to help you two get together! Who is it? Who is it, Takumi?"

He gave a nervous smile and gestured at the board. "Er, maybe we should return to our game first." Hopefully she'd fall asleep before the game was over.

"Okay, fine." Elise laughed good-naturedly. He sighed a breath of relief. It was a simple, straightforward one-word answer yet he wouldn't ever dare say it.

'You.'

\--

He wouldn't ever have expected it to happen now, of all times, but here it was. A mere day before the changing of the skies, everyone was packing up and readying to march to the Bottomless Canyon, hoping to the gods that Nohr would not turn a blind eye to them. Elise had just gone and done it—grabbed his collar and stood on her toes for a kiss. It took a moment for him to process, but before he could stop himself, Takumi had cupped Elise's cheek and brought her closer by the waist. They stayed like that, her tender lips so smooth against his chapped ones, for a good ten seconds until they pulled away, both gasping for air.

"E-Elise..." Their lips were still close, and it took all of Takumi's strength not to lean in again and intensify things. No, not yet. Maybe one day, when they were older...

For now, he stared into those purple eyes so full of happiness and vitality. Elise stared right back, hands coming to rest gently on his chest.

As they smiled at each other, Takumi prayed that Princess Camilla hadn't seen them kissing in the middle of camp.

\--

She didn't understand.

Corrin had vowed peace between Nohr and Hoshido. He'd promised that if the two nations worked together, nothing bad would happen. Yet here he was, eyes so much colder than she remembered, surrounded by a purple aura. Nervously, the princess glanced around. It seemed the Nohrian and Hoshidan armies had been separated... where was Takumi? Princess Sakura?

That was when everything launched into a blur - all she knew was that she was clinging onto Leo's cape and that Corrin was a dragon and there was screaming and scared, she was so scared. It had been a trap set up by Hoshido. Lure the Nohrians into the invisible kingdom and then wipe them out entirely. This monstrous dragon—Big Brother—was killing. Her big brother was killing people. It was like he'd lost all humanity and turned into a feral animal.

They'd escaped with their lives - just her, her siblings, and Soleil. Everyone was dead.

Everyone.

She refused to believe Takumi would ever do that to her.

\--

He'd been right, he'd been right from the beginning. Foreigners only brought pain. The phrase repeated in his head like a mantra as he half-listened to Ryoma formally declare war on Nohr.

It was an elaborate Nohrian trap to lure them into Valla and wipe them out there. But the royal family had barely escaped. Azura was inhuman as they faced her, with the power of what felt like a god. None were spared save the four siblings.

Foreigners only brought pain. He had been so, so stupid. Stupid for leading his country straight into death, and for ever going against his one belief that always held fast.

Tightening his grip on Fujin Yumi, Takumi swore he'd wipe Nohr off the face of the planet.

\--

A direct attack on Castle Krakenburg had the Nohrian royal family in panic. Gathering the last of their troops, they defended the castle with their lives. Elise ran about, frantically trying to heal as many people as she could - which side was which? She didn't know anymore - when familiar gray hair caught her eye.

"Takumi!" she yelled from across the battlefield. He turned and tilted his head as she approached him, staggering from the blows to her legs. Halfway there, Takumi met her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Run, Elise. This is no place for you to be."

"T-Ta—" Her breathing sped up. She couldn't do this.

"I said run."

"Takumi, I can't—"

"Didn't you hear me?" For once in his life he was angry at her, scowling the way he had when they first were introduced. "You've got to—"

"Takumi?!"

The archer's body went limp, falling forward - Elise caught him and struggled to hold him up with all her strength. "Takumi, what..." Then she looked up and saw it.

Xander brandishing Siegfried, staring at the now-dead prince. Blood pooled from Takumi's slit throat, but Elise's older brother paid it no mind and pushed the body aside so he could kneel and meet her eye. "He didn't hurt you, did you?"

"Xander, what... what have you... d-done?" Eyes welling up with tears, Elise shook her head. "He was—he—that was Takumi!” Horrified, she peered behind Xander to see a slain Princess Sakura lying on the ground.

Her brother had killed.

Her brother had murdered.

A thudding filled her brain as her heart pumped; Elise looked around the battlefield to see Leo attacking some of the friends Takumi had described. Camilla was nowhere to be seen - had she run away? Should Elise run away too?

“Cease, Nohrians!" Before she knew it she'd been grabbed by a strong arm and a sword was held to her throat.

"Ryoma." Xander's eyes were cold.

"Surrender or the girl dies."

Glare met glare as the Nohrian crown prince tightened his grip on Siegfried. Elise was begging with her eyes—don't do it, don't fight, try to be at peace—when Xander lunged.

It happened in a split second. The sword had impaled Prince Ryoma, but not fast enough. Elise fell to the ground, bleeding from her chest. Everything was so dark...

Faintly, she felt Xander taking her in his arms and shaking her, begging her to open her eyes. But try as she might, Elise couldn't. She didn't want to.

Because a hand reached out to her - glove-clad, worn from holding a bow - and she took it.


End file.
